Use of the adjective Asian in the US

Crazyeddie:

I think that it's only in the UK that the term oriental is deemed OK to refer to East Asians. I've discussed this subject before on another Board and Asian-Americans find it un pc and offensive. They thought that the term "oriental" was used more to desribe objects such as furniture.

I've heard of the term subcontinent to describe the area but never subcontintentals to describe the people. I find it annoying that South Asians in the UK have adopted the word Asian exclusively for South Asians but then again there are more South Asians than East Asians in the UK.

#20

n the past, this was used to describe a native Asian who had studied the English language and go on to be a successful professional (doctor, lawyer, etc).

Or who hadn't.

I can't tell whether you believe that etymology or not. But it's bogus, as are nearly all etymologies from acronyms. It's from "gollywog".

I don't disagree entirely with lealing, but being British myself I would never use the word 'Oriental' as a noun. Not because it is offensive, but just because it is archaic- I've never heard it used by anyone under the age of 50 or so. The term 'East Asian' isn't really very common here, and people instead tend to refer to anyone from that part of the world as 'Chinese' unless their ethnicity is known- something I know to be an annoyance for ethnic Korean and southeast Asian friends of mine. I agree that the term 'Asian' almost exclusively refers to people from the Indian subcontinent unless qualified. If the police reported that they were looking for an 'Asian suspect' then she would be of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin.